Granahan Investment Management LLC Purchases 90,260 Shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. $BLFS

Granahan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 482,356 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 90,260 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.00% of BioLife Solutions worth $11,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,153,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 2,399.5% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 248,474 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,352,000 after purchasing an additional 238,533 shares during the period. Heights Point Management LP purchased a new position in shares of BioLife Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,260,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,087,386 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $74,653,000 after purchasing an additional 119,868 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BioLife Solutions by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,080,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $23,271,000 after purchasing an additional 109,959 shares during the period. 93.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioLife Solutions in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut BioLife Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BioLife Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioLife Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BioLife Solutions news, major shareholder Casdin Partners Master Fund, L sold 650,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $15,405,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,757,165 shares in the company, valued at $112,744,810.50. This trade represents a 12.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,200,000 shares of company stock worth $28,125,000. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

BioLife Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BLFS stock opened at $26.36 on Wednesday. BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $29.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -329.46 and a beta of 2.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.95.

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $27.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.66 million. BioLife Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BioLife Solutions, Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

BioLife Solutions Profile

BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) specializes in biopreservation and cold chain workflow solutions for cell and gene therapies, regenerative medicine and other advanced biologics. The company develops and markets proprietary cryopreservation media and technology platforms designed to maintain cell viability and functionality during processing, storage and transport. BioLife’s product portfolio addresses critical steps in the manufacturing and distribution of cell-based products, helping life science researchers and biopharmaceutical manufacturers protect and preserve living cells.

The company’s flagship offerings include CryoStor, a family of serum-free cryopreservation media; HypoThermosol, a hypothermic storage solution for short-term cell and tissue preservation; and the ThawSTAR system, an automated cell thawing instrument that delivers controlled and reproducible warming of frozen cell therapies.